Trade deal signed as Japan relents on beef tariffs
Updated | Australia has broken through the high tariff barriers protecting Japanese agriculture to secure a deal hailed by both governments as the most significant advance in the economic relationship since the 1957 post-war trade pact.
Offshore wages must fall to keep industry afloat
Matthew Stevens | Australia just cannot afford to keep paying barge welders $400,000 a year, and neither can anyone afford the $350,000 a year paid routinely to the offshore industry’s cooks and laundry hands.
Westpac wins nod for Shanghai branch
Westpac Banking Corp has followed ANZ in winning approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to open a branch in the new Shanghai free trade zone.
NAB seeks partnerships to free up capital
National Australia Bank has been talking to global financial services companies about potential partnerships that would enable it to free up some of the capital it has invested in its troubled life insurance division.
Brickworks boss backs Boral, CSR deal
Brickworks managing director Lindsay Partridge has urged the ACCC to allow Boral and CSR to combine their east coast brick operations, saying his rivals will be forced to exit the industry without the deal.
Wesfarmers, gold stocks support local market
Australian shares trimmed their losses to close slightly lower, with gains in Wesfarmers and gold stocks offsetting weakness in the technology sector following a major sell-off in US internet stocks on Friday.
Tech stocks add to sell-off fears
Since 2009 the Nasdaq is up almost 230 per cent, but it looks like tech stocks are in for a tough time on the eve of the US reporting season.
Diageo expects flat profits in ‘tough’ market
Diageo Australia, the dominant player in the spirits market, expects annual revenues and profits to be largely flat this financial year as trading conditions remain difficult.
Wesfarmers divestment pushes up Gresham, Macquarie
The $1 billion sale of Wesfarmers’ insurance broking and premium funding units will cause a shake-up of the local merger league tables, catapulting Gresham Partners and Macquarie Capital closer to the top.
ISPs line up for fresh piracy negotiations
Internet service providers such as are headed for a new round of talks with the entertainment industry over a plan to issue warnings to consumers who download videos and music they do not own.
How the CIA enlisted Doctor Zhivago
It had all the hallmarks of a classic Cold War spy caper and it began when British intelligence’s Moscow station delivered two rolls of microfilm into the hands of the CIA.
Westpac starts tap-and-go payments
Westpac will allow owners of some Samsung devices to make payments through their smartphone from next week.
Firing employees: the devil’s in the detail
Dismissing poor-performing or toxic employees is a necessary evil in business, but care must be taken that the appropriate process is followed or a bad situation can get much worse.
Evolution not in merger talks with OZ Minerals
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An online report in the United Kingdom says the Jake Klein-chaired gold miner Evolution Mining is in merger talks with OZ Minerals.
Google’s Android TV push
Google is having another go at finding its way into, or at least under, your TV set, reportedly working on Android TV, to be delivered via a set-top box.
Wolf hunters of Wall Street
Before the collapse of the US financial system, Brad Katsuyama could tell himself that he bore no responsibility for that system.
Veteran actor Mickey Rooney dead at 93
Mickey Rooney, whose long Hollywood career began as a child star in the 1930s, has died at the age of 93, US media have reported.
Fitness First tries to win back members
Fitness First has put new club openings on hold, shuttered 19 underperforming gyms and now aims to pull back customers.
Snowden honoured for ‘truth telling’
The Ridenhour prize for truth-telling will be given to Edward Snowden and the journalist who helped him.
Warren Buffett is off his game
For four of the past five years Warren Buffet’s investments have performed worse than an index fund.
H&M’s Australian debut a huge success
Swedish retail giant H&M has recorded one of the most successful opening days for a new store at its maiden department store in Australia.
Apps to help you ace Fashion Week
If you’re battling against the drizzle and humidity to look your fabulous best this week, then you might like to consider these fashiony apps.
Samsung moves HQ to Olympic Park
Samsung Electronics Australia will move its new national headquarters to a new GPT development in Sydney’s Olympic Park at Homebush.
National
Hard negotiations ahead for Abbott on policy reform
The Coalition will struggle to get its Direct Action policy through the Senate based on the current views of crossbenchers, including the four aligned with the Palmer United Party.
- Palmer has open mind on media ownership
- Labor back doing what it does best: talking about itself
- Clive Palmer’s PUP controls Senate future
- AWH charged Sydney Water for Liberal party lobbyist
- Abbott urged to tax ‘old rich men’ on super
- Households urged to shop around for power
- Strike risk rises at Port Hedland
- Visitor arrivals buoyed by Malaysia, HK
- Colin Barnett rebukes oil and gas industry
Alex Perry and Alessandra kick off Fashion Week
Cleavage, midriffs, bare legs, tanned limbs, unapologetic sexual confidence, and a front row to make any gossip journalist swoon: welcome to an Alex Perry fashion show.
Opinion
World still sniffles and we feel a chill
These are still dangerous times for politicians and investors.
Cereal sex titillates new audience
“Masturbation is the silent killer of the night, the vilest sin of self-pollution!” exclaimed Anthony Hopkins in his 1994 role as John Harvey Kellogg.
Old news at the top of agenda in Washington
Joe Hockey | A key barrier to the 2 per cent global growth target adopted at the Sydney G20 meeting is the ageing of populations worldwide.
World
‘Most promising lead’ in Malaysia Airlines search
Updated | An Australian Navy vessel has picked up more signals that could be from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and are said to be the most encouraging lead in the four-week search.
- McDonald’s closes its Crimean outlets
- Hungary’s PM returned to government
- Snowden honoured for ‘truth telling’
- BlackRock promotes execs as possible Fink successor
- Japan’s yakuza gangs seek reversal in fortunes
- Strategic special zones a tool to get Abenomics back on track
- China’s property developers buy into banks
- US to send defence ships to Japan after North Korea threat
- US nonfarm payrolls increase 192,000 in March
Nigeria overtakes SA as Africa’s biggest economy
Nigeria’s economy surpassed South Africa’s as the largest on the continent after the West African nation overhauled its gross domestic product data for the first time in two decades.
Business
Diageo expects flat profits in ‘tough’ market
Diageo Australia, the dominant player in the spirits market, expects annual revenues and profits to be largely flat this financial year as trading conditions remain difficult.
- Wesfarmers to sell insurance arm for $1bn
- Rio loses court appeal on Warkworth expansion
- Energy sector almost as unpopular as tobacco, Origin finds
- TVN gives Tabcorp digital rights for autumn racing
- Bankwest customers to earn Qantas points
- ACCC raps Coles over milk claims
- Fonterra, Bega move closer, but no takeover planned
- House prices may lead to stricter lending: ANZ
- Qantas Airways’ biggest shareholder lifts stake
Time for Wesfarmers to look at acquisitions as war chest grows
Chanticleer | The sale of Wesfarmers’s insurance broking business adds another $1 billion to the conglomerate’s swelling coffers and will increase pressure on chief executive Richard Goyder to invest in growth or return more excess capital to shareholders.
Technology
Westpac to start allowing tap-and-go payments on Samsung devices
Westpac will allow owners of some Samsung devices to make payments through their smartphone from next week, but the bank says it won’t provide an equivalent service for iPhones until Apple integrates a payment technology.
- Spending figures show areas of promise for Australian tech sector
- Are tech stocks headed for a fall?
- Samsung opts for Sydney Olympic Park HQ
- Competition will slow Telstra mobile subscriber growth, Thodey says
- Surviving Tuesday’s Windows XP doomsday
- Some apps to help you ace Australian Fashion Week
- Local content sets the web a-Twitter
- ANZ CIO Weatherston quits
- Mobile puts power over bank products in consumer hands
Google’s Android TV push
Google is having another go at finding its way into, or at least under, your TV set, reportedly working on Android TV, to be delivered via a set-top box.
Markets
Wesfarmers, gold stocks support local market
Australian shares trimmed their losses to close slightly lower, with gains in Wesfarmers and gold stocks offsetting weakness in the technology sector following a major sell-off in US internet stocks on Friday.
- Gold’s bounce deemed temporary
- Local tech sector takes a hit, but no bubble seen
- $A resumes climb as US dollar, euro soften
- Construction, education job ads rise: ANZ
- Flash cash: how one cent added up
- Construction hit by loss of resource-related work
- House prices may lead to stricter lending: ANZ
- US regulators boost high frequency trading
- Macquarie backs push for local corporate bond market
ASIC poised to clamp down on HFT
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has threatened to introduce clamps on super-fast computer trades to reduce their speed if the practice continues unchecked.
Personal finance
Not your typical bag ladies
The Pratten sisters started out doing it for themselves in business, but since combining their skills and doing it together, they have never looked back.
- How to pick the next hot biotechnology stock
- Screen test to find companies tipped to grow the most
- Stocks the fundies like
- Rate rises will burst home owner bubble
- Power up your portfolio
- How to avoid DIY fund skeletons
- Property buyers seduced by looks
- Best ways to take the headache out of flying
- Winners hard to pick after ASX bull run
Super trustees, be warned: ATO will take action
Do-it-yourself super finally has a penalty regime that should allow the regulator to deal with the longstanding issue of breaches of the rules by trustees.
Lifestyle
Best places for a ladies’ lunch
While the ladies who lunch are a less rarefied lot these days, there are still glamour hotspots for a feminine get-together.
Mercedes-Benz throws down the gauntlet
No car this year – indeed, no car in the past year – has impressed as much as the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Kyoto off the beaten trail
A full 36 hours, 36 days, or even 36 weeks could be spent exploring Kyoto, but the city’s finest isn’t in the guidebooks.
Story boutique rewrites retail
At New York’s Story shop, themes and products change every few weeks and big retailers are paying attention.
Latest TV
Potential April sell-off, March employment
'Sell in May and go away' might hit Australian stock markets in April and March employment may not stack up against February's high numbers.
MH370: Houston's 'most promising lead'
Signals consistent with a blackbox and cockpit voice recorder, detected twice, says the man in charge of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Aussie dollar reaches new four-month high
The Australian dollar has pushed to new four-month highs against the US dollar and euro as new US jobs data showed a recovery.
Urge to demerge
BHP Billiton shareholder BlackRock welcomes demergers as a way to improve shareholder returns, after the miner confirmed it's exploring a spin-off of some assets.
